I was going to write this summary later in the week, but Winter just won’t let go up here in the mountains of South Central Pa.   So, I’ll do it today while the wind howls and the snow blows.  I have to wait until the compost piles thaws  so I can fertilize the orchard and berry patch.

I am sure that William Dunn (1), and his 3 wives had more grandchildren and great-grandchildren than I found, either through my own research, or from borrowing leads from several family trees on Ancestry.com. I did confirm many these leads, and hopefully have given credit to those researchers.  I also did an intensive search of  Death Certificates, and Military Records at the Pa. Archives.

William (1) and his first wife Mary McCloskey had 5 children, plus Michael who died in infancy.  The other four - Joseph, James,Susanna,  and Lucretia, had a total of 29 children, and these 29 had  87 children.

William (1) and his second wife Magdalena Fogle/Senneger had  5 children, William, John, Thomas, Andrew, plus Theodore who died in infancy).  John, Thomas, and Andrew had 16 children, who had at least 20 grandchildren.  I also add to that figure Christie, the daughter that William (2) Dunn adopted.  I also add the two children of Magda’a two(?) previous marriages.   Magda Senneger had Roman Senneger before she immigrated to the US in 1846, and she had Robert Fogel Dunn after marrying Marcus Fogel in Altoona.  Robert did not have offspring, and Roman had 6 children, of whom I only know that Robert P.Dunn (akaFogle} had 3 children.  I chose to include these foster and adopted children, because I was also adopted, and we count!  So my total for Magda and William (1) was 20 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

William(1) and his third wife Louisa Allwine had 6 daughters.  I have only found three that I can confirm married.  Bertha married twice but had no children.  Martha Wills and Mary Clabaugh had a total of 10 children, and 16 grandchildren.

William(1) and his three wives had at least 61 grandchildren and at least 119 great-grandchildren.  I am sure these two figures are rather low, because I probably missed some who moved away from Pa. and left few traces.   Most of ones i found did live in Blair and Cambria Counties (with a few in Elyria, Ohio, plus my great-grandfather who moved to Allegheny County and then to Beaver Co., Pa., and Robert P. Fogel/Dunn who also moved to Allegheny County).

So, I hope these essays will help some of you Dunn family researchers out there.   I personally benefited from this research and review; I have been confused these 6  years, since I found out that William (1) Dunn was my gt-gt-grandfather, trying to figure out who was whom in this sprawling Irish/German family.  I think I now have some of the puzzle put together.  Maybe some of you who read this can use this information to unlock more doors, and will share them with me.  But for now I have to go back to being a farmer on this windswept mountain.

Thom Dunn Marti

THOMAS HENRY DUNN - 1857-1943

As I wrote before, my paternal great-grandfather’s, and his descendant’s lives are all covered in my 30 January essay “The Dunn Saga - Part 3″.  Here I’ll just add some remembrances of my late aunt Betty Dunn:

Thomas ran away with a visiting circus in the early 1870’s, and became an acrobat and gymnast.  He settled down in Allegheny County, Pa. with his new Welsh born wife Sarah nee Davis by 1880.  Thomas and Sarah had William 1881-? who died in infancy; Arthur,1882-1903 who became a pro baseball pitcher and died from being hit by a ball; 1882; Allen 1883-1942 who became a YMCA gymnast, administrator, and college professor.  He married Clara Croker and they went to Europe in WW1 as YMCA volunteers.  In 1942 was the manager of an Ambridge bank.  Thomas H. Dunn and Sarah also had my paternal grandfather Thomas John Dunn 1881-1943.  Thomas Henry brought his family to Ambridge to help build the American Bridge plant.  He worked as a watchmen, and his son Thomas John became the export Shipper.  Thomas John married Bertha Flueckiger 1890-1968,  Ambridge’s assistant postmistress.  They had four children: Lillian 1913-1974 who married Don Creese and they had 3 children ; my father Art 1917-1954 who married Dorothy nee Johnson 1981-2002.  I was their only child to live; Betty 1923-2012 who married and had 3 children, and Thomas Jay 1930- 1975 who married twice and had 5 children.  I was adopted after my father died, and was prevented, when I was young, from learning who my family was.

ANDREW DUNN

Andrew 1858-1902 married Fannie O’Donnel 1861-?, in 1880 in her Altoona home.  They had two daughters, Gertrude 1883-?, and Laura aka Lulu 1887-?.   Lulu married Cameron Griffith 1881-?  They had five children: Agnes 1903-?, Gertrude 1905-?, Margaret 1906-?, Cameron V. 1910-?, and Thomas G. 1919-?.  I need to check Blair County records to find out more about them.

MARTHA DUNN WILLS

After Old William Dunn’s second wife Magdalena Senninger died, he married Louisa Allwine and they had six daughters.  I have found that three of these 6 sosters  married, but only Martha 1864-1907, and her next youngest sister Mary married and had children.

Martha married Abraham Wills (1853-1910) and they lived in Cambria County, Pa.  They had five children; William 1882-?, Mary E 1886-?, Sarah E. 1889-?,  Bertha M. 1891-?, and George H. 1896-? (note that their three daughters are named after 3 of Martha’s sisters.  I thank the Hufford Family Tree for this information.  Martha’s Pa. Death Certificate and obituary were also helpful.

MARY aka MOLLIE CLABAUGH

Mary 1866-1942 Louise Dunn married Altoona PRR conductor David Clabaugh  1863-1919  in November 1883.  They had five children - three of whom died in infancy, and Mary Mae 1885-1943 married Frank Smith 1877-1947, and they had three children- Anna 1901-1902, David 1903-1983, and Robert 1919-1984: Rachael 1887-1889  and Agnes 1890-1892 die young: and George Raymond 1893-? married Katharine nee ?; they had three children - George R. Jr. 1921-1981.   Helen 1896-1946 married Joseph Marks and they had Mary Jane 1918-1987.  I thank Holly Lynn’s Family Tree for supplying much of this information.

Whew, thus ends this compilation of a lot my ancestors  that 6 years ago I never knew that I had.  I’ll get to work on figuring out how many of William’s 64 (at least) grandchildren had children, and how many of William’s  great-grandchildren there were.  Some of my writing might seem a tad confused = I admit this is the biggest puzzle I ever tried to help solve.                                                                               Thom Dunn Marti

William (2) 1852-1905 was the eldest son of William (1) Dunn and Magdalena Senneger.  William (2) married Martha in 1857 at the Newry Lutheran Church.  The Beach family lived in Duncansville.  They had no children but family researchers report that they did help raise some of the Beach family’s children.  They may have adopted young Christie (1890-?).  Christie married Harry Kreps 1895-?, who had been previously married to  Florence.  Christie and Harry lived in Altoona for another 20 years, and then retired to St. Petersburg, Florida by 1945.

In  {1910 US}Duncansville widowed Martha and Christie are listed as Caring for 12 year old Freeman Beach.  Freeman enlisted in the US Army for WW1, and reported to a training camp in Ohio.  His service what cut short by bronchial pneumonia which he died from in 1918.  I wonder if he was an early casualty of the “Spanish Flu”, which killed two other family members, including one in Army training at Fort Riley, Kansas.

John Sylvester Dunn

John Sylvester Dunn (1853-1927) and Elizabeth Mary Noll (1849-1914) lived most of their lives in Duncansville.  They had ten children: Mary 1873-?, John Edward 1880-1848, William Thomas 1878-?, Charles Clement 1879-?, Leo Richard (1) 1882-1965, Eleanora 1884-?, Edna Regina 1887-?, Arthur Lewis 1893-1973, Isabelle 1894-?, and Rosella 1898-?.  {John’s father William (1) Dunn lived with John’s family after his third wife Louisa Allwine died by 1880, and until old William  died in 1903.}

Daughter Mary lived in her parents house until at least 1930. John Edward married Annie McCune in 1907 in Bedford, Pa., and they had 3 children, including Bernadine Regina 1910-2000.   John was the first of three brothers who moved to Elyria, Ohio, to work in that mill town.  John’s young children left no record.

Leo Richard married Clair Foster in 1905 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Altoona.  They also moved to Elyria by WW1, and Leo died there.  His sister Eleanora married Thomas McDowell by 1930 and they had no children.  Their is no record of younger sister Edna Regina.

Arthur Lewis Dunn also move to Elyria with his wife Olive M. Ott.  They had two children, Mary 1918-? and William 1921-?.  He later moved back to Duncansville.  Mary married and moved to Oxon Hill, Maryland where Arthur died in 1973, and William moved to State College, Pa., where his father was buried .  Arthur was, as were many of his Dunn relatives, a patternmaker, who worked in the PRR cabinet shop.

I have scant record of the two younger sisters Isabella and Rosella, except that the later was living at home, with her sister Mary,  {John’s  1927 Altoona Mirror obituary}.  Also listed as survivors are John of Elyria, William of Cleveland, Charles of El Paso, Texas, Leo of Lakemont, Mrs. Thomas McDowell and Arthur of Duncansville, and Mrs. Frank McFadden of Erie.  Three of John’s brother’s also survived him;  my great-grandfather Thomas Dunn of Ambridge, Robert in Los Angeles, and James in Altoona, plus 20 grand children.

Next week I will wrap up this winter writing project and write what little I know about  Thomas Henry Dunn and his younger brother Andrew;  and  the two daughters of William(1) Dunn and Louisa Allwine who married and had children: Martha Joanne Dunn and Mary Louise Dunn.

I have rather enjoyed this self-prescribed winter writing project, but the days are getting longer and soon farm I must!   Thom Dunn Marti

Roman and Carrie  married and settled in Reedsville, Mifflin Co., Pa., where he found work in the axe factory.  Their first daughter Emma was born in 1869.    They moved to Altoona by 1880, and had five more children: William 1871-?, John 1873-?, Robert 1875-1934, Jacob 1877-?, and young Carrie 1880-?.  Roman’s physical and psychological, disrupted their family.  Roman filed for a disability pension, and by the early 1890’s wandered off from his family.  By 1900 his wife was living and working in Pittsburgh, raising Emma, Jacob, and John.

By then Roman had begun drifting westward.  He checked himself in to the Western Branch Soldier’s Home in Leavenworth, Kansas, as he applied for more benefits.  By 1900 he was staying with his brother Robert in Los Angeles and working as a carpenter.  Carrie was trying to get her share of the pension.  Roman drifted back east, and entered the Central Branch Home in Dayton, Ohio where he spent the rest of his life.  Carried tried to apply for a widow’s pension, but found out he was alive; an agreement was reached and Roman worked as a porter at the home until he died in 1920, two years after Carrie died in Hollidaysburg, Pa.

Except for their sons Robert Fogel Dunn (he later changed his name to Robert Peter Fogel), and William S. Dunn, none of the children left much record.  Jacob Widensow Dunn’s WW1 draft registration lists his sister Emma Dunn, living in Altoona, as his next of kin.  William S. Dunn appears in the {1900-US} in Manhatten, New York, working as a clerk.  His health failed and in 1905 he was admitted to the County Alms House in the bowery.  He recovered and is last mentioned in the {1920-US} Altoona.

Robert P. Fogel married Cecelia Hoffman, and they lived in Pittsburgh, and he worked for various employers including the Dravo works and as a lockman on the Ohio River Dams.  In a March storm, he was swept off the dam and died; his body was found a month later.  He left his widow and three children;  Mary 1901-?, Loretta 1902-?, and Carl Leo 1923-?.  Loretta married Terrance McGowan (1896-1962, and they had two sons Joseph and Regis.  I thank my cousin John who has constructed the McGowan Family Tree, and shared much family information.                                                                                                       Thom Dunn Marti

Peter and Susanna Dunn Saly’s Children and Grandchildren

Susanna and Peter had 7 children; I have some details about 4 of them.  I thank the Charlson, Gordon, and Corkan Family Trees for details: 1.Mary Catharine 1858-1936 married Adam Greene 1854-1930; they had  four children, a first child born in 1870, Ida M. 1883-1960, Peter J. 1887-1947, and Estelle V. 1892-1981.

2. Henry Y. married Catharine Stibich in 1884 and they had 8 children; Mary 1895-?,b Emma 1897-?,  Charles 1899-?, Amelia 1901-?,  William 1904-?,  Margaret, Susanna 1909-?, and Estelle V. 1892-1981.

3.William George, a barber, married Mary Glassner 1866-1946, and they had nine children; Susanna 1888-1972, Gertrude 1890-1973,Vincent 1895-1979, Raymond 1899-1977, William A. 1901-1931, Eulia 1904-1977, Mary 1905-?, Joseph H. 1911-2006.

4. Ida Saly is only mentioned in the {1880 US Census} as living with her parents.  Ida Loritch is named as the informant on her father’s Pa. Death Certificate, but I don’t know it that is her married name.

5. Edward E. married (Alice nee?) and they had 4 children; Loretta 1904-?, Rosella 1905-?,  Alice 1907-?, and Susanna 1911-?

6. Margaret  appears in 1915 and 1918 Altoona Directories as a hotel clerk, and 7. Anna appears in Altoona Directories as a sales lady.

Lucretia Dunn’s and Franklin Howard(1) and James Irwin(2)

Cousin Deb passed on much of this information, and  much came from the various branches’ family trees, including the  I have confirmed much of it.  Lucretia’s first husband was Franklin Howard, and they had one child Mary, but I have found no further information of this union.

Lucretia then married James (aka Jeremiah) Irwin - he was a Civil War veteran who served under the alia Jeremiah McDade.  They had 9 children: William Ellsworth 1871-1933, Ella 1873-?, Alice P. 1878 -1953, John 1865-1867, Molly 1865-?, Margaret 1872-?, Robert Garfield 1883- 1937?, Clarance Samuel 1887-1949, and Emma Jane 1881-1958 {Shapiro Family Tree}

William Ellsworth Irwin married Sarah Benet 1870-1042 and they had 5  children including; Ralph Edgar 1894-?, Mary, Nelson, and Harry C. {Doehring Family Tree}:  Alice P. married Peter Chidron.

Molly married Charles Norland:  Margaret married Kirby Norland, and had 6 children; Wilbert,Frank,David, Maggie, Bessie, and Carrie.

Robert Garfield married Minnie Wise and they had 6 children in Altoona: Robert G., Minnie, Blanche, Edna, William N., and Robert.{Dietrich Family Tree}

Samuel Clarance married first Annie McQueen and second Florence Walters.  The 1915 Johnstown Directory lists the first couple, and the 1940 lists the second.

Emma Jane married Anthony McMullen, and they lived in Gallitzin, Cambria Co.  Their 7 children are;  Anthony 1874-?, “private”, Clair 1897-?, Viola 1900-?, Viola 1900-?,  Paul 1905-1970, 1907-?, Violet 1907-?, and Roy 1909-1980.  {McMullen Family Tree}.

When Lucretia tragically died in 1895 several children were still at home.  A parent’s early death, with children still at home, is tough = I know - my father Art Dunn died when I was 4.

In next week’s essay I’ll move on to  once bereaved William Dunn’ second marriage to Magdalena Senniger, and the children of her son Roman Dunn, plus the offspring of  William and Magda’s 4 surviving sons William, John S., Thomas Henry (my gt-gf), and Andrew.

Thom Dunn Marti

I’ll here begin to summarize the next three generations of William Dunn’s children.  Perhaps a living Dunn will find my work, and I’ll be glad to hear from you.  My e-mail is thommarti@superpa.net

A. Joseph Milton Dunn 1837-1906 married Susan McLaughlin 1844-1908, and they had four children: William 1864-1906; Mary Regina 1866-?; Francis H. 1867-1935; and Joseph Edward 1875-1929.

1. William married Florence (nee?) in 1897 - they had no children.              2. Mary Regina married John Charles Albert of Altoona.  Mary and John had five children: Susanna 1891-?; Charles 1893-? married to Helen n?; Estrella 1895-?; Mary Regina (2) 1906-?; and Anna M. 1911-?.                       3.  Francis X. 1867-1935 married Elice Law 1872-?; they had 4 children.  S. Elice b?; Anna M. 1891-? ; Florence E. 1895-?; Joseph Milton Dunn(2) 1897-?.                                                                                                                                      4.  Joseph Edward 1875-?  married Alice Gartland, and they had 6 children including 1)Joseph 1900-1944 who married Bernice Thompson;  2)Mary Regina 1902-1969 who married William Murtaugh and they had 4 children- William J. 1923-?, John P. 1925-?, Alice 1928- ?; James 1929-?; 3)John1908-? ;  4)Hattie 1910-1965; 5) Paul 1913-1986; and 6) Leo 1917-1987.

I found much of this information in the Gordon Family Tree.

B.   James B. Dunn and Hannah Kammerer   were married in 1867 in Roaring Springs.  they had 6 children: Mary 1868-9; Catharine 1871-?; William Henry 1871-?; Lewis Edgar 1874-1932; Jacob Cecil 1876-?; and Anna Marie 1882-?.  1. Mary died in infancy;  2.Catharine never married, caring for her parents;                                                                                                        3. William H. married Susanna Wertz 1885-?, and they had twelve children: Margaretta 1902-?; James M. 1904-1952;  Edward M. 1908-?; Ralph 1910-1933; Wilbur 1911-1995; Clair W. 1914-1947; Ruth N. 1918-1997; and a younger brother.  William Henry Dunn’s WW1 Draft Registration lists him as a car repairman for the PRR.                                            4. Lewis Edgar was born in Martinsburg in 1874 before the family moved to Altoona.  He married Elizabeth Beicher and they had 3 children: Mary M. 1903-?;  Hannah 1906-?; and James 1906?.  After Elizabeth died by 1910, Lewis and his children lived with his sister Catharine;                             5. Jacob Cecil Dunn (1876-1949) married Grace Marie Hamilton and they had four children: David Cecil (1909-1951) , Robert Ambrose (1910-1945), Jane R. (1917-1930), and Marjorie Grace 1921-1990.    Jacob is noted on his WW1 Draft Registration as  “missing  first finger of left hand”  Being a mechanic often entails such injuries.        6. Anna Marie Dunn married Frank Gill 1909-1978 and they had four children;  Cecil Marshall  1902-?  ;  Joseph Bradley 1904-?; Nathalie 1911-?, and Dale D. 1918-?.

By the 1920 Altoona Census, Ann Marie Gill and her children are living next door to her aging father James Bradley  Dunn, and her older sister Catharine, who was old James Dunn’s caregiver.  I thank the Dixon Family Tree for helping me figure out this all.  Next week I’ll present the next generation of Susanna Dunn Saly, and Lucretia Dunn Howard/Irwin.

PS:  Sorry about the formatting errors - this is a tough format for this old computer to figure out.

Ida Flora Dunn was born in Hollidaysburg on 18Jan 1873.  She was baptised at the family church on 15 Feb 1873, with Jacob and Anna Culley as her sponsors.  Their mother Louisa died soon after Ida’s sister Clara was born.  Ida’s life left few records.  She followed the same career as did her older sisters Bertha and Sarah, working as a domestic servant.  Altoona Directories from 1893 to 1900 list Ida as working with her Sarah at the Franklin Hoouse and at the Adeline Hotel, plus at households on Chestnut Avenue.  Ida is enumerated in the {1900US-Altoona}, possibly double- counted.  On 4 June she is listed as a domestic at the Adeline with Sarah, and on 7 June she is listed as a chamber maid in Precinct 2.

I have found no further records of Ida in either official records or mentioned in any of her siblings obituaries.  I guess that either 1) she married and I have not found her wedded name, or 2) that she died before the {1910US}.   The latter is very possible; many young people died early in the polluted air of these industrial towns.

Clara Frances Dunn

Clara is listed in Catholic records as having been  born on 31 Aug 1874, and baptized on 31 Aug 1874, with John and Barbara Singer as her sponsors.  I believe John was a son of the Senneger family of Altoona;  Magdalena (William Dunn’s second wife; he was possibly her third husband) Senneger  had  immigrated to America with that family.  The  Sennegers belonged to St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Altoona,  while William and Louisa attended St. Mary’s of Hollidaysburg.

Louisa died at some time after Clara’s birth.  In the {1880 US- Antis Twp.}, five year old Clara is listed as living with her grandmother Martha Allwine.  Martha married Levi Hammond after her first husband died.  Clara’s oldest sister Martha Dunn also lives with them.  I believe that Clara’s  sister Martha stayed with the Hammonds to help care for Clara, who had special needs.

Clara’s life was not easy.  In the {1900US- Allegheny Twp} Clara is listed as living at the Blair County Alms House; described as “insane”. Her half-brother Andrew Dunn is also listed in that document.  On 10 Jul 1906 Clara died.  Her Pa. Death Certificate list her cause of death as Epilepsy, and that she had suffered from it for “many years”.  Clara’s last record was her 12 July 1906 obituary in the Altoona Mirror .  Her funeral was at her family’s church, and she is buried at St. Mary’s  Catholic Cemetery.

I believe that the Dunn family was shaken by this storm of early deaths that afflicted them between 1895 and 1915.  Lucretia Dunn Irwin died in 1895;  Andrew Dunn in 1902; William Dunn Sr.  in 1903, William  Dunn Jr.  in 1905, Joseph Dunn in 1906, Martha Dunn Wills in 1907, and Susan McLaughlin Dunn (Joseph’s wife) in 1908, and  Susanna Dunn Saly  in 1915.  When William Sr.’s 3 wives who all died young, as well as several of their grandchildren who died young,  are added to this death toll, it must have been hit the family hard.  I have first hand experience in similar “Dunn Death Storms”.  A second death storm struck my side of the family in 1942-3 in the steel town of Ambridge, Pa.  This grim lightning hit a third time when I lost my father, my  newborn brother, and other family members there in 1954.

Next week (since I have five weeks of winter to go on my Winter Writing Project), I’ll start writing what I know about the grandchildren of William Dunn and his 3 wives, Mary, Magdalena, and Louisa.

Thom Dunn Marti - 17 Feb 2013

Last week I wrote about Bertha’s three older sisters, Martha, Mary, and Sarah.  This week I’ll write about Bertha, and then next week about her two younger sisters Clara Frances, and Ida Flora.  I’ve decided to keep my winter essay project going until the Spring Equinox, because I have found some interesting tidbits about the next generation of Dunns in Blair and Cambria Counties.

Bertha Dunn was born in Hollidaysburg on 24 May 1870.  She was baptised at St. Mary’s on 17 April 1870, and her god-parents were Henry and Catharine Mantel.  Bertha is listed in the {1870US} as “3/12 years old” in her parents household.

In the {1880US} I have found, perhaps another foster family for the six young daughters whose mother Louisa died, and their father was retired and too old to care for young daughters.  Old William was living with his son John, in Duncansville, by this time.

“Bertha E. Dunn” is listed as living with George and Margaret Kaisley, in Millville,  in neighboring Cambria County.  I have no proof for this being the same 11 year old girl, but by this time two of Bertha’s half-sisters (Lucretia Irwin in Millville, and Susanna Saly in Johnstown) were indeed living nearby.  And soon, her sister Martha Wills would be living in nearby South Fork with her family.  My next research will be to investigate if any of these family members were lost in the Johnstown Flood of 1889.

The next reference to Bertha is in the 1893 and 1896  Altoona Directories; she is listed as a domestic, as were her older sister Sarah and younger sister Ida.  In the {1900US} Bertha is listed in Altoona working as the servant of John C. and Mary R. Albert.  In this listing (and Albert Family Trees)  I found the clue that proved this Bertha was indeed of the Hollidaysburg Dunns.

John C. Albert had married Mary Regina Dunn, daughter of William’s eldest son Joseph Milton Dunn, and his wife Susanna McLaughlin Dunn.  John Albert’s brother Michael married Bertha in November of 1903.  As was all to common back then in the smoggy air of this  industrial town, powered by coal.  By {1910US} widowed Bertha is listed as renting an apartment and supporting herself.  In the {1930US} Bertha is employed by the Joseph Lynosak (sp?) family in Altoona.

Soon afterwards, Bertha re-married to Lorenzo Brioni (Lawrence Bryan), a widower after Mary Catherine Pfieffer died in 1920, leaving him with 5 children.  I guess she was a governess again, who againmarried her employer.

In {1940US}, Bertha is counted with Lawrence in Logan Township, and some of his children live nearby.  Lorenzo’s obituary was printed in the Altoona Mirror on 27 May 1944.  The 1945 Altoona Directory lists”Bertha Bryan (widow of Lorenzo)”.  Bertha’s Pa. Death Certificate confirms that William and Louisa were her parents.  Lawrence’s son Sylvester was the informant on her document.  She is buried in Calvary Cemetery, where many other Dunn family members are buried.

Bertha lived until 23 Dec 1948.  Within a year of Bertha’s death, I was born.  This was a close as my life came to living in the times of any of William Dunn’s children.  Next week I will complete this first part of my family essays with the few facts that I have learned about Bertha’s 2 younger sisters, Ida Flora Dunn, and Clara Frances Dunn.  I’ll also present an introduction to my upcoming essays on the next generation of Blair County Dunns.                                                                   Thom Dunn Marti

Martha Joanne Dunn/Wills (var. Wells)

Martha was born on 2 May 1864, and baptized  at St. Mary’s, Holli-daysburg, 0n 15 May, with Ignatius and Rachael Beitner as sponsors.  In the {1870 US} Martha is living with her parents, and two sisters, Mary Louisa and Sarah Ellen and several half-brothers and sisters, and the family had a resident nurse/housekeeper.

In the {1880 US - Antis Township} in a village called Sabbath Rest” Martha and her youngest sister Clara were being raised by their re-married grandmother and her step-grandfather Levi Hammond.  By 1881 Martha had married Abraham Wills of Clearfield,  Cambria Co., Pa.   Her half-brother’s ; Andrew and William, obituaries list her as one of their surviving siblings.   This information lead me to Martha’s 1907 obituary and death certificate.

Abraham Wills was the eldest of 13 children of Michael D. Wills (1833-1912) and his second wife Bridget McDermitt.  They lived in Adams Township, Cambria County, Pa.  The Wills family was also living there in the {1900 US} with their children William, Mary, Sarah, Bertha, and George.  Of note is that their three daughters are named after Martha’s younger sisters.

Martha died on 13  Sep 1907, as attested by Abraham.  Abraham died c. 1910, and they are buried in the South Forks Cemetery.  I have not been able to yet learn much about their surviving children.

Mary (aka Mollie)  Louise Dunn/ Clabaugh

Mary was born on 3 April 1866, and baptized on 8 April, at the family church, with Jacob Cully and Mary Magdalena Liebre as her sponsors.  On 6 Nov 1883 Mollie married railroad conductor David Clabaugh (b. 1863 - Altoona).   In {1900 US} they lived at 2006 5th Avenue with their children Mary, Charles, and Raymond.  In {1910 US} they are living with their children including son-in-law Frank Smith who married Mary(2), plus their son David Grant Smith (b.1903).

David died on 10 Sep 1919, and was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery.  By {1920US} Mary was living with her daughter Helen Marks, and her  son-in-law Joseph.  In {1930 and 1940 US} Mary is living with daughter Mary, and her second husband Frank C. Smith.  Mollie Clabaugh died on 28 June 1941 and is buried next to her late husband.

I found an old photo of Mary and David Clabaugh; this is the only photo I have seen of any of William Dunn’s children.

Sarah Ellen Dunn

Sarah was born on 28 Apr 1868, and baptized on 31 May 1868 at the family church with Peter and Margaret Dunn as sponsors.  Sarah is enumerated in the {1870US} with her family.  Her record becomes spotty after this. The 1893  and 1896 Polks Altoona Directories lists “Miss Sarah Dunn” as a ‘domestic’.  The {1900 US} lists her as as the same.  Her sisters Ida and Bertha are also listed as domestics.  1902-3 Polk’s lists Sarah as a cook at the Adeline Hotel.  I guess these 3 sisters followed this vocation which was common for orphaned young women of the time.  I have found no record of Sarah after 1903.  She might have married and changed her surname, or she could have moved away, or she could have died.

I hope that someone reading this essay will contact me with the answer to this puzzle.  Next week  I’ll write about William and Louisa Dunn’s  three younger daughters.

Thom Dunn Marti

Soon afterward this baby boy died, as did his mother Magdalena.  I have tried to find her death date from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hollidaysburg, but they did not begin recording deaths until 1885.  I have also not found her grave.

Forty-four year old William was still working as a patternmaker for the shops of the PRR, and must have been hard-pressed.  So, he married again.  This pre-1863 marriage to young Louisa (aka Eliza) Alwine (b. 1845) is also listed in other records with the surname Hammond from her step-father Levi.

Louisa was born to Phillip and Martha Alwine in South Western Pennsylvania.  This branch of the numerous German immigrant Alwine Family included many Mennonites, according to Duane Alwine, author of the Familie Alwein.   “Eliza” is first listed in the 1850 US Census in Fairfield, Westmoreland County, with father Phillip - a shoemaker, and mother Martha with her sister Sarah(7), and brother Samuel(1).  The Alwines soon moved to Cambria County and by 1853 bought a farm in Jackson Township, but he died soon afterward, leaving four children including infant James Taylor Alwine.

Martha soon married again, to Levi Hammond, who by 27 Jun 1860 was living at Sabbath Rest, in Antis Twp., Blair Co., with their five children including infant George and fifteen year old Louisa Hammond.  I have also found fifteen year old Louisa Hammond on 9 August 1860, in that same census,  listed as a domestic for Henry Keller, and family, in Morris Township, Huntingdon County (just east in the mountains from Antis).  I am guessing she was ‘farmed out’ to earn some of her own keep.

I am also guessing, that after Magda Dunn died in about 1861, that twice-widowed William hired Louisa to help him raise the 6 children at his home.  Nature and necessity soon took their course, and William and Louisa married.  I have seen no record of this 1863(?) marriage, but by 2 May 1864 their first, of 6 daughters, Martha Joanne Dunn was born.  She was baptized 0n 15 May with Ignatius and Rachael Beiter as sponsors.

Two more daughters, Mary Louisa (aka Mollie) b. 1866, and Sarah Ellen b. 1868  followed and are listed in the {1870US}, along with the four surviving Dunn boys from Williams’ second marriage.  A young housekeeper was hired to help out.    I guess this third try for William was working pretty well, and more four more daughters were born.   Elizabeth Bertha was born in 1870, Clara Frances in 1872, but at some time after Ida’s birth in 1873 the dark luck William had with wives struck again.

I’ll write of that next week when I continue with what I have learned about William and Louisa Dunn’s 6 daughters.

Thom Dunn Marti